Wireless mobile devices within wireless networks receive signals from other wireless entities within the network through a wireless medium. After a signal is received by a mobile device, it must be processed to demodulate and decode the signal and to convert it into a usable form. If the signal is weak, or if it is corrupted by interference or noise, the signal will typically be more difficult to process and, in some cases, the underlying information may be lost. Power control is a technique that can be used to adjust the transmit power levels being used in a wireless network so that data loss in the network may be reduced. Channel quality feedback may be delivered from a mobile device to an associated base station that is indicative of the quality of one or more signals received from the base station. The base station may then adjust a transmit power level being used to transmit signals to the mobile device based on the feedback. When a mobile device approaches a cell boundary in a wireless network, a hand off operation is often performed to change the association of the mobile device to the BS of the new cell. There is a general need for techniques that enhance the effectiveness of power control and hand off operations within a wireless network.